Amy Sherman and Joseph Lacey- Holland (TH Council)
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Older People’s Reference Groups Minutes 16th December 2019 Tower Hamlets Older People’s Reference Group Minutes 16th December, Oxford House, 2:00pm-4:00pm Meeting Coordinators: Angela Hancock (Chair), Sophie Ibotson (Minutes), Linessa Wicks, Caroline E Dare, Claudia St Rose (Volunteer) Speakers: Denise Jones (Older People’s Champion, TH Council), Amy Sherman and Joseph Lacey- Holland (TH Council) Attendance: Elizabeth Adebisi, Pauline Canning, Anne Charles, Ruth Davis, Violet Davis, Joy Godsell, Kalsoom Khan, Florence Martin, Patricia McCarthy, Pat Miah, Devika, Joy Middleton, Andrew Patikki, Kate Scannell, Jean Taylor, Tim Oliver, Juliet Thomas, John Wiggett, Esley Xavier, Lucille Samuel, Ann Alison, A Manning Apologies: Jenny Ellwood, Michael Zacsinsky, Janet Loo Welcome: Angela Hancock Housekeeping The room is looking lovely, thank you to the volunteers for the assistance Please be respectful and don’t have separate conversations, this can interrupt with other people’s abilities to hear, particularly if they have hearing issues Health and Wellbeing Strategy: Amy Sherman and Joseph Lacey- Holland (Tower Hamlets Council) The members will be working together in groups and the feedback will be pulled together. Amy and Joseph work for Tower Hamlets council and work in policy. The TH health and Wellbeing Strategy will be expiring in March and so they are going to groups in the community and asking them how they can help people to be happy and healthy. They will explain the process as they go. There will be four stages: 1. Your health and how you would rate it Health in the widest sense Mental health, social circles Rate yourself on a scale Outcome: Many leaned towards the positive end Suggestions included: Issues on accessibility: the toilets in Caxton hall were mentioned as a specific example of this, Dangerous cycling, Transport Positives: 1 Older People’s Reference Groups Minutes 16th December 2019 Family Club Friends/regular socialising Good health Link Age + Church Church on Sundays and chatting with neighbours and friends Shopping Holidays Being able to go out Being mobile Having good neighbours Caxton Hall – meeting people Having a battery operated wheelchair Having 2 regular and good carers daily x 5 days and twice a day Going for short walks – exercise Meeting people and children Knowing people in my community Being able to make a difference to lives (I am healthy and active) Sport Being financially secure I am deaf so I was given a high powered hearing aid and now I can hear loud noises Being part of groups eg water aerobics and coffee afterwards Cycling Reading I can get out of bed A cup of tea or coffee Pain levels Going on outings Going to restaurants Pushing yourself to get out of the house – go walking, to the gym or to the center to meet people Mental activity eg quizzes, word searches, board games Being close to shops and transport Breathing clean air near the river Going jogging or for walks Going to the community centre Going bowling Negatives: In always doing things “by the book”, the council sometimes don’t hear you – some people need more time Graffiti No access to internet at home and no one seems to be able to change this Feeling lack of control – can’t change things Mobility issues – with walking Being dependent on others because of anxiety Health problems – arthritis and stomach problems 2 Older People’s Reference Groups Minutes 16th December 2019 Becoming forgetful Noise levels from events and litter disposal Lack of exercise and activity Poor diet Loneliness Not being able to get a straight answer Nobody wants to do anything to help anyone Not being able to get out of the house Pain Lack of sleep Being unable to do things as I need to Having hearing problems – worse in certain environments like church as the sound bounces off the wall The removal of free travel Family being far away Cracks in pavement Getting on and off underground and trains Toilet accessibility Lift access – housing and public transport Suggestions: Stamp down on drug dealing The council could help explain things better Better communication with older people Provide better feedback on questions from the OPRG More neighbourhood places Improving street cleanliness (eg dog fouling) Have more police walking around Enforce the highway code for bike users – at present some run the traffic lights More places like Caxton Hall (lunch club for 50+) Improve street lighting Reducing trip hazards on pavement Bring back visitors parking permits Help me with everyday tasks - pick the leaves in my back yard and do the shopping Getting Dial Ride sorted out so that I can rely on getting to my club Link Dial-a-Ride to mobile phones More traffic free roads Making it easier with forms you have to fill in Accessible toilets in all centres eg Caxton Hall More activities for older people – take us Christmas shopping in the white van, go to restaurants for a meal and take us to the cinema and theatre The council do not take that many bulky items away now – could provide more information about what we can do Stop people sleeping in shop doorways and begging at shop doors Better health care for older people More police Making Tower Hamlets a less male-dominated community (there are many groups of young men driving madly, tossing litter onto the street, taking nitrous oxide) There are too many cheap chicken shops – get rid of them 3 Older People’s Reference Groups Minutes 16th December 2019 Make it easier to contact council services Thank you for your details suggestions. They will be doing workshops for another month and a bit. The output will be turned into priorities which will be given to the council to turn into policies. They are happy to come back in the future to keep the group in the loop. Question and Answers Q: What will happen to the prioritise one they have been written? A: This will inform the council strategy for the next five years. Q: What is actually going to happen? We would like to know what will actually be changing. If something can’t change, we would like to have some honesty about what can’t happen as well. A: The health and wellbeing strategy defines what the challenges are to health and wellbeing, rather than what will happen about it. This will go on to the council, the NHS, TFL etc. They can come back in the spring and there will be another opportunity for discussion. We’re trying to spot challenges for people of different ages, backgrounds, so specific things won’t be expressed in the strategy but general themes highlighted by everybody. Q: Something that really needs to be address is accessible toilets. One of the centres wants one, Caxton doesn’t want one but needs one. We need to see these, because it stops people going out and isolated them. A (Denise Jones): There is funding through City Bridge Trust, you can apply to have things like disabled toilets . They will help with anything to do with access, including an access assessment. Follow up Q: Access keys cost too much Follow up Q: Anybody can get them through women’s magazines, and it takes away from those who really need them. Q: What have the similarities and differences been so far? A: Accessibility, pain management. People want to feel as if there is a community, that they are supported by other people. There have been themes that run through the meetings. We can send you a thematic overview when it has been completed. Older People’s Champion: Cllr Denise Jones She has been in Tower hamlets for 52 years. She has three children and 4 grandchildren. She originally worked in the community sector and has been an old labour party member. She has been a councillor 4 Older People’s Reference Groups Minutes 16th December 2019 in Wapping since 1994 (so 25 years). She used to be the mayor when they used to have them. She works on adult health and wellbeing and has been appointed by the mayor as Older People’s Champion. For the first year, she has been busy with adult health and wellbeing. Currently she is working on two big projects for older people: 1. Loneliness Taskforce: they want to make TH friendly and find out how people become lonely Chairs by the director of public health, service managers on poverty etc., social workers, linkage plus There is a scheme to train people in the council how to talk about loneliness, how to identify it, how to access the issue and deal with it 2. Chairs the Dementia Friendly steering group They are trying to work out how to make life better in lots of different ways. Wants to talk about loneliness and what people need to help them. Men are often lonely, especially when their partners pass away, and they lack the essential skills. They are concentrating on 10 priorities in the Ageing Well Strategy 1) Being dementia friendly 2) Tackling loneliness 3) Information and access online 4) Transport (they have a little bit of money, they could train somebody to drive a mini bus to help groups out) Communication – there are lots of things out there, but people don’t know about them. How should the council tell the public what is going on? How can we communicate with older people? Leaflets? Online? Council paper? How can we be a friendlier borough to older people? Feedback from Members When trying to contact the council, you phone and you can’t get through or you’re told to go online (this comment was met with sounds of agreement in the room) There is a housing issue in TH: a lot of investment is going into high rise flats, which are getting refurbishments